Free Republic

HORRIFYING pictures show a Ukrainian prisoner of war left extremely skinny and fragile after being trapped in one of Putin's 'concentration camps'. An emaciated Gorilyk Roman Vasilyevich was seen returning to his homeland in a harrowing state after two years of savagery at the hands of thuggish Russian officers. -snip- Vasilyevich was a National Guardsman before his capture and was one of 74 prisoners exchanged in a prisoner swap on May 31. Upon his return to Ukraine, photos were taken of the seriously malnourished man to prove the horrors of Putin's regime during the Ukraine war. His rib cage can...

Ukraine last night claimed it successfully hit a missile system inside Russia using U.S. weapons. It said the country’s forces destroyed Russian missile launchers with a strike in the Belgorod region. Senior politician Yehor Chernev claimed Ukrainian forces used a High Mobility Rocket Artillery System, or HIMARS, The New York Times reported. It comes just days after the U.S. granted permission for Ukraine to fire American weapons into Russia.

Synopsis: A discussion panel on Russia 1 (Russian state television) led by Vladimir Solovyov discusses nuclear attacks against Ukraine and Europe. The panel also discusses the notion of attacking Poland and the Baltics in the expectation that the USA and NATO will abandon these countries. At the 2:30 mark Andrey Gurulyov denies the existence of Ukraine and also states that a threat to Russian-occupied Kaliningrad is present. He promotes an attack on the coast of Holland, destroying dikes in order to flood the country. Andrey Gurulyov also promotes the notion of proxy war by employing hostile groups to shut down...

NATO is flirting with war and extinction. France is now “officially” sending troops to Ukraine (they have been there for some time) and NATO countries are demanding strikes deep inside Russia. Meanwhile, the US has secretly made a “policy shift” that somewhat falls short of what Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wanted but opens the door to deep strikes by the US on Russian territory.

The Biden administration has greenlit the use of American long-range strike systems by Ukraine to launch attacks deep into Russia. This puts the entire planet in a “shockingly” dangerous situation, says former DoD analyst and US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Karen Kwiatkowski. President Biden has knowingly or unwittingly brought the risk of a world-ending nuclear conflict much, much closer after listening to “neoconservative advisors who really don’t have a lot of perspective on the nuclear dangers that they’re walking into” instead of military specialists and okaying Ukraine’s use of NATO weapons to strike the Russian hinterland, Kwiatkowski told Sputnik. “The...

Ukraine destroyed seven boats in a devastating attack on Russia's Black Sea navy in the Crimea. Ukraine launched a spectacular and devastating attack on Russia's Black Sea Fleet, inflicting major damage on Putin's navy. The Black Sea Fleet is stationed in Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. Throughout the current war, Ukraine has managed to sink a number of vessels from the fleet including the Moskva flagship missile cruiser. Through a combination of missiles and drones, Kyiv's army has succeeded in nullifying the threat from Putin's navy in the Black Sea, regularly inflicting huge humiliations on the...

Russia launched plans to sharply raise taxes on high earners and companies to fill state coffers and fund what it sees as a long war in Ukraine. A government commission on Wednesday approved a Finance Ministry plan to introduce a new progressive income tax as well as raise corporate tax rates. The proposed amendments, which would come into force from next year, are expected to bring an additional 2.6 trillion rubles, or around $29 billion. -snip- Per capita household income is around $7,100, according to data provider CEIC. Russia’s military expenditures are already running at over 6% of gross domestic...

Poland's foreign minister said the US had told Russia that it would strike Russian targets in Ukraine if Putin were to use nuclear weapons.In an interview with the Guardian, Radosław Sikorski seemed doubtful of Russia's threats about using nuclear weapons, saying: "The Americans have told the Russians that if you explode a nuke, even if it doesn't kill anybody, we will hit all your targets [positions] in Ukraine with conventional weapons, we'll destroy all of them.""I think that's a credible threat," he said. "Also, the Chinese and the Indians have read Russia the riot act. And it's no child's play...

Since the start of the war, Western allies have asked Ukraine to refrain from using their donated weapons to strike deep inside Russia. Ukraine urgently needs the West's go-ahead to launch attacks on Russian territory with donated weapons, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday after signing a long-term security deal with Belgium that includes the provision of 30 F-16s fighter jets by 2028. The deal, however, prohibits Ukraine from deploying the sought-after aircraft to strike targets located on Russian soil. This follows a long-held policy by Western allies that compels Kyiv to use donated weapons and ammunition strictly within its...

In mid-2022, Gazprom restricted gas flows to Europe in what was seen as a move by Putin to get both leverage against Kyiv's allies ahead of the winter season and retaliate against Western sanctions and support of Ukraine. But the EU managed to find alternative long-term sources of gas imports and free itself from most Russian piped-gas imports ... Gazprom's revenue fell by 41 percent year-over-year in the first half of 2023, while sales profits dropped 71 percent and gas production by 25 percent... The report said the company's upstream gas-production base is now isolated because infrastructure connecting its main...

Volodymyr Zelenesky's constitutionally-mandated term as Ukraine's president expired on May 21. The leader canceled elections planned for March or April last November, claiming it was "utterly irresponsible" to discuss such matters amid the ongoing conflict with Russia. President Zelensky's legitimacy has expired, and Russia will proceed from this fact, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said."Of course, we are aware that the legitimacy of the current head of state [of Ukraine] has ended," Putin said at a press conference in Minsk on Friday after talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. Putin recommended anyone looking for answers regarding Zelensky's legal status to...

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) on Wednesday appeared to back allowing Ukraine to use American-provided weapons to strike Russia or Russian-controlled territory. One reporter asked Johnson about a House Intelligence Committee letter calling on the Biden administration to allow Ukraine to strike Russia with American-supplied weapons. The letter stipulates that this would allow Ukraine to strike “Russian-controlled territory” as well as Russian territory and represents a significant escalation in America’s seemingly endless proxy war against Russia.

Synopsis: A panel of Russian commentators discusses the failure of democracy and representative government in Russia. The discussion immediately descends into angry invective and personal attacks. One member of the panel storms off. Quote of the Day is from the host Vladimir Solovyov: "German Nazism is the highest level of development in this line of German society"

“Here, these are the girls who can get pregnant.” This is video footage depicting the horrific kidnapping of 5 female Israeli hostages: Liri Albag, Karina Ariev, Agam Berger, Daniela Gilboa and Naama Levy. They have been held hostage by Hamas terrorists for more than 230 days (8 months). The families of Liri, Karina, Agam, Daniella and Naama have approved the release of the footage to raise awareness about the horrors their daughters are facing as hostages in Gaza

Tucker Carlson’s representative denied reports Tuesday that Carlson launched a show on Russian-owned state television Monday night, telling Forbes the reports were “pure nonsense,” indicating Carlson was not involved with the show that is listed on the website for a Russian state television channel. Arthur Schwartz, a representative for Carlson, told Forbes in an email “it’s pure nonsense” in response to questions about Carlson’s show being aired in Russia with Russian voice overs and whether it was licensed by Carlson. Neil Patel, CEO of the Tucker Carlson Network, said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the...

Many Ukrainians see Volodymyr Zelensky as a dictator who has betrayed his own country for a handful of silver. From tomorrow, May 20th, Zelensky’s presidential term is formally at an end—but no new elections will be held as long as Ukraine is under martial law because he would be overwhelmingly voted out. He preaches that Ukraine is fighting for freedom and then denies them the right to vote on his policies – so much for freedom and democracy. Zelensky has no incentive for peace at this point in time. Zelensjy won the election, which some say was rigged, promising PEACE...

Watch the moment a strike hits the Russian oil depot. THIS is the moment a Russian oil depot exploded in a huge fireball in yet another humiliating blow to Putin. Plumes of black smoke could be seen rising into the sky in Vyborg after the explosion at the oil refinery near the Nato border with Finland. Dramatic footage showed the oil depot engulfed in a raging inferno. Leningrad regional governor Alexander Drozdenko denied a Ukrainian kamikaze drone had hit the facility. He also denied there was a fire and claimed "there was a bang due to the use of pyrotechnics"....

Iranian authorities have sentenced a Jewish man to die — and they plan to carry out the execution as soon as Monday, sources told The Post. The case has sent a shockwave through the tiny Jewish community in the Islamic Republic, and Iranian Jewish expats and others in the Jewish community in New York and Israel are sounding the alarm that it is a clear miscarriage of justice. Arvin Ghahremani, 20, was working out at the gym in the Iranian city of Kermanshah, about 500 miles outside of Tehran, in November 2022 when he was ambushed by seven men, one...

Iran will send a batch of eggs to Russia for the first time next week, said Hamidreza Kashani, chairman of the republic's poultry farmers' union. "The first batch of eggs (to Russia) will be sent next week," said Hamidreza Kashani. Kashani hopes that Iran's exports to Russia will get better thanks to Islamic Republic President Ebrahim Raisi's visit to Moscow on 7 December and the signing of an agreement to establish a free trade zone between the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) countries and Iran. This is reported by IRNA, a partner of TV BRICS. He noted that now "strict quarantine...

The outlets include Voice of Europe, which was foiled as a Russian influence operation by Czech secret services in March. The European Union has announced a ban on four media outlets accused of spreading pro-Kremlin propaganda and "destabilising" Ukraine's neighbouring countries. The four blacklisted outlets - Voice of Europe, RIA Novosti, Izvestia and Rossiyskaya Gazeta - are "under the permanent direct or indirect control" of Russia and have been "instrumental" in fostering support for its illegal invasion of Ukraine, the European Council said in a statement on Friday. "The Russian Federation has engaged in a systematic, international campaign of media...